St Peter Port & Masnieres Twinning
The hundredth anniversary commemorations drew towards a close for most British Army regiments in November of 2019.
However, it was not until mid 1919 that the last of the RGLI returned home, aboard the same vessel that had taken them to war in June 1917, the cross channel steamer SS Lydia.
A change of focus naturally began from initiating these commemorative events to maintaining these memorials and yearly activities. The Trust recognised a need for a seed change to preserve the work done so far and to pass this through to our next generations. This prompted the Trust to focus its activities from "commemorative to cultural".
In 2018 the Trust, with the support of its Patron's and its whole team, they approached the Maire of Masnieres and the Constables and the Douzaine of St Peter Port (the principle island Parish in the RGLI's history) with a view to maintaining a lasting connection through the twinning of both towns, sharing our cultures and joining our history.
On 102nd anniversary of the Battle of Les Rue Vertes officials from Masnieres and St Peter Port signed the declaration of Twinning. The event was held the Salon of the Hauteville House, the residence of one of France's greatest son's who lived in exile in Guernsey, Victor Hugo.
Our Activities
From this twinning declaration, came a number of initiatives led by the Trust and owned by the stakeholders in each location. Whilst these were delayed during 2020, work currently includes:
Schools & Education
Despite delays in 2020 during the CoViD 19 outbreak Blanchelande College, together with a number of schools in Masnieres, have began a series of events which will seek to join the pupils of both regions. Initial contact through the schools will be digital and the target is to lead to longer lasting visits and exchanges in due course. Focus for this is on pupils experiences of different cultures and an undertaking of the different histories of respective ares. Further updates are due soon. Enquires can be made at schools@rgli.org
Memorial Ride
You can discover more about the current events of the annual memorial ride between Guernsey and Masnieres on the dedicated page on this site
Commemoration Events
We continue to promote the annual events of commemoration at the sister memorials on 30th November each year, or the nearest day possible. Simultanious acts of memorial take place each year at exatly the same time. This also includes wreathes that are laid on the National Memorial Day events in both countries, around 11th November each year. For further information you can contact events@rgli.org
Twinning Team
We are delighted to announce the twinning teams for both locations that are working under the stewardship of the Trust on these an other activities to be announced.
Representing the Parish of St Peter Port & RGLI Charitable Trust:
Zie Lihou, Jenny Tasker, Christopher Nicolle, Diane Mitchell, Chris Oliver, Colin Vaudin
Representing the Town of Masnieres :
Francis Noblecourt, Pascal Guiton, Agnes Lecas, Christine Nison, Christelle Guedin
Further information or contact can be made at twinning@rgli.org